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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

shaken up to love

Hi sweet ladies. I'll tell you what, we've been reading back over your answers from your questions last week and it has been sweet, sweet, sweet to get to know you. Here's what I (think) know about you women:

You want to love well. You want to be a blessing. You're all over the US. (and elsewhere!)You like the internet, but you're cautious with your time and your hearts.

I had a thought this morning that is stirring in me and I hope will be a blessing to all of us. Wives. Single ladies. Business owners. Daughters. Sisters. Friends.

About two weeks ago, I was reading in the Psalms and the Lord knocked me over (once again) with the truth that His grace and His love for us is lavish and uncomfortable. I have a bad habit of reading things in scripture that are about "righteous" "blameless" and "upright" people (a good chunk of the psalms) and discounting myself from that lot. Because I am surely not righteous, blameless, or upright.

And that morning, the Lord really sweetly and extravagantly began instructing my heart that because of His Son, because of Jesus. I was counted all those things. By grace, through faith in Jesus, I have been made righteous. I have been made blameless. I have been made upright. I am very much still an active sinner, but I'm found worthy by the blood of the Lamb when I approach the Father. It took me a week to chew on those things. Maybe we should all take a minute and chew on them now. But this morning, the Spirit started unraveling a new thought in me.

This grace we've received is amazing. And our Father is to be praised and worshipped for it. But what if we combine the thought of John 3:16 with Philippians 2:3 that says, "consider others better than yourself". We can't just marvel at God's great grace and mercy and love for us, how we are co-heirs with Christ and made right with the Father WITHOUT also considering that this love should spur us to consider others better than ourselves.

So I'm sitting with my hands open this morning. Asking the Lord to not only pummel my heart with the truth of His grace and goodness and love, but asking Him to give me eyes to see and ears to hear and hands to serve the people in my life in a way that screams to them - "God's love is lavish and wonderful for me, and YOU, it is even better for you. I will love you in a way that heaps His grace on you, before considering myself."

And I think that will mean breaking out of the routine of how I serve. It will cost my time and energy and maybe some self preservation.

But hopefully, at the end of the day, we will all have experienced His lavish love and grace anew. Thoughts?